The Remains in the Desert
by Kasper ze Chemist
Summary: Booth and Brennan are sent to the middle of the desert to investigate remains.  The lead detective on the case, a one Jared Booth.  Takes place before season two.
1. Of Skulls and XFiles

**This was written a long time ago, almost a year ago. It was one of my earliest works. I bet there are a lot of mistakes, but I feel that the story line is cute and cheesy at moments, okay often. So review if you please. Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 1: Of Skulls and X-Files

Booth stepped into his SUV, a big smile plastered on his face. He was in a great mood, reflecting the great weekend he had with his son, Parker. Today was his day off, but since Parker went home he had nothing to do; so he decided to head to the lab, but to his office first. He had barely set foot in his office when a familiar voice called his name.

"Agent Booth, come to my office," called Deputy Director Cullen. Booth mumbled under his breath as he followed his boss. Cullen shut the door and handed Booth the file. Curiously, Booth flipped the file open, and immediately he laughed.

"Sir, you're kidding me right?" asked Booth, throwing the file back on the desk.

"No, though I wish it was. I need you to go down there with Dr. Brennan and-"

"No, no, no. She'll just laugh at me and refuse! I mean isn't this a job for Scully and Mulder?"

"Well aren't you creative Booth. Every other agent has said that line while turning it saying that exact line."

"Well come on sir. Aliens, in Roswell, New Mexico. Call me crazy but isn't it just a hoax?"

"Phoenix sent some field agents. They aren't sure of what to make of it. They need assistance."

"Well I'll go sir. I could use a tan…but you'll never get Bones to go."

"Yes I will. Tell her we'll give her a gun or something."

"Are you really going to give her one?"

"Of course not. She shot an unarmed senator!"

Booth chuckled. "Oh well, when she comes and kicks you in the nads, I warned you. I'll take over to Squint Central. See what they say." Booth picked up the file and left the office, whistling the theme from The X-Files.

Angela, Hodgins, and Zack were still eating breakfast in Angela's office when they noticed the FBI agent walk in. He gave them each a little wave before heading down to Brennan's office.

"Shouldn't someone warn him she's writing?" asked Zack, taking a sip from his Nesquik chocolate milk.

Angela threw her yogurt container away. "Why would we all ruin the fun? Come on let's get closer."

Booth approached Brennan's office. He noticed a light was on and that she was sitting behind her computer, her eyes plastered to the screen. He knocked on the doorframe and cleared his throat. No response. He stepped in and waved his arms.

"Yoo-hoo!" he said waving the file. Brennan blinked her eyes then shook her head.

"Huh, what…Booth why are you here? And why didn't you knock?"

Booth rolled his eyes. "I did knock. And we have a case." He handed her the file. She leaned back and studied it for a moment before placing the file on the desk.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Booth stepped forward, resting a haunch on the edge of Brennan's desk. "Well Bones, a skeleton was identified in the desert of Roswell, New Mexico. As you can see from the photos, there are some features that do not match those of a normal human skeleton."

"And you have brought this to me because?"

"Cullen wants us to go there, they need some experts." Brennan sighed and picked up the file again. She took the photos of the skull, then headed to the platform. She magnified the photo. She pointed to the skull.

"Shallow eye sockets, the nasal cavity is irregular, the shape of the skull is just wrong…Booth, I may have to see this." The tone of her voice was indistinct.

"Really?" asked Booth, genuinely surprised.

"Yes, this is like Starchild all over again…"

"Wow, this was easier than I thought. I'll get the plane tickets and tell Cullen."

"Whoa, look at that!" said Hodgins. Booth had gone to Brennan's office to talk to Cullen. The Squints materialized behind her. "Looks like that skull, what was it, Starchild?"

"Yes," replied Brennan. "There are some similarities."

"Wait, I'm totally lost," interjected Angela. Hodgins sighed and grabbed a file from the drawer in his desk area and handed it to Angela.

"Starchild was the name of a skull found in a Mexican mine in the late 1990's. It was discovered along with a female skeleton. Carbon-14 data dates the skull back about nine hundred years. The skull, however, was unlike any other seen. It was sent around the country to various scientists in hope of explaining it. Naturally it came to me and I agreed to examine it. The skull was abnormal, with a volume twenty-five percent larger than that of a normal human being. It showed symmetrical widening of the parietal bone. The occipital bone was also flattened. There were signs of teeth that had yet to expose, placing the skull to that of a five or six year old. The density of the bone was half as normal, yet much stronger. Through the best technology we had back in ninety-eight, I reported that the skull was consistent with a bad case of hydrocephaly, or water on the brain. But there was not enough information to declare it anything."

"Many believe that it is a human/alien hybrid," added an excited Hodgins. "DNA testing indicates that the mother was a Native American from the Haplogroup C which fuels the debate that the skull was that of a hybrid."

"All right," shouted Booth. "Enough with the X-Files mumbo jumbo. Bones, we got a flight in a few hours. The seats aren't together though. One is first class and the other coach so I guess you can have the first class."

"There is no need for the chivalry Booth, but I'll take the first class ticket anyway," said Brennan with a smile. She walked past him and headed to her office.

"Great, stuck in coach," mumbled Booth. He saw that the Squints were staring at him. "Get outta here."


	2. Of Whiney Kids and Brothers

Chapter 2: Of Whiney Kids and Brothers

Within hours they were sixty thousand feet above the States. Brennan sat in a comfortable seat with ample legroom clicking away on her laptop. She was working on the plot to her next novel, which was harder than normal. She was however, glad that the seat next to her was empty; she was tired of prying eyes trying to sneak a peek. A flight attendant approached her seat.

"Can I get you anything ma'am?" she asked. "A snack perhaps?"

"No thank you," replied Brennan, her eyes never leaving the laptop screen. She was drawing a blank and angrily closed the screen to her laptop and shoved it in the bag. She leaned back and looked over to the empty seat next to her, wishing that someone occupied it. 'I wondered what Booth is up to,' she thought.

Booth angrily turned around again, staring down the tantrum-throwing boy kicking his chair.

"Mommy I want chocolate ice cream!" he screamed again as he kicked the chair again. The mother placed one hand on his knee, and without her eyes leaving the book in her other hand, she tried to calm him down, feebly.

"Honey they don't have chocolate ice cream. Why don't you pick something else?"

"I want chocolate ice cream!" he screamed again. The mother, however, diverted her attention to the book again. Booth looked closer trying to figure out what kind of book is so good that you can't out down to quiet your child. Of course, Bones's book. What else?

Booth sunk back into his seat defeated. He rested his head on his arm and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. 'I wonder what Bones is doing,' he thought.

She couldn't take it anymore. It was only an hour and a half into the flight and she was bored out of her mind. For once her human like qualities kicked in, she needed another person to talk to. The flight attendant was coming down the aisle again and Brennan waved her down.

"Excuse me, but my friend is back in coach and I was wondering if he could move up here because this seat is unoccupied. I'll pay for the upgrade."

"I'm not sure…"

"Temperance Brennan."

"…Ms. Brennan. I guess we can ask though."

"Thanks, I'll appreciate that."

The lady returned within three minutes. "The pilot said it was okay, and that there is no need to pay though."

"Thanks. He's in seat C3." The flight attendant returned once again, a man in a dark blue shirt and jeans behind her. Booth sat in the seat beside her. Brennan nodded to the flight attendant as she went to refill an intoxicated man's drink.

"Hi Booth."

"Hey Bones, you miss me?" he asked, a mischievous smile in his face.

"No, I was just…bored."

"You missed me. Just admit it."

"No Booth I didn't." And that's the way the rest of the flight went. Going back and forth about random things. But not one of them had a problem, both enjoyed it, it was their thing.

A few hours later the flight landed at Roswell International Air Center. It was middle afternoon and the airport was quite empty. Booth and Brennan retrieved their luggage and headed out into the hot sun.

"Booth, where, well how exactly are we getting to the site?" He looked at the watch on his hand. His cell phone rang and Booth inspected the caller ID before answering. "Yo!" he answered. "Where are ya?" Just then a red SUV pulled up in front of them. A man jumped out; he was nearly six foot three, with brown hair combed to the side. He stood tall and confident, dressed in black slacks and a white shirt soaked with sweat and a red tie hanging loosely around his neck. In fact, he looked a lot like Booth… The two men met each other in an embrace. "Jared, how are you man?" Jared, Brennan racked her mind. Where had she heard this name? Then it clicked, Booth's brother.

"Seeley, Seeley. Long time no talk. What have you been doing that's so important that you can't even talk to your own bro?"

"Official FBI business, classified."

"Yeah, yeah, just because you decided to go federal and I stayed local doesn't mean you can't talk to me."

"Yes, yes it does." Brennan cleared her throat in an obvious plea to gain some attention. The boys stopped fighting.

"Oh, Seeley, who is this lovely lady?"

"I wouldn't say that. This is Dr. Temperance Brennan, my partner from work. Bones, this is Jared Booth, my brother." They shook hands.

"Yeah, so, shall we get to the scene before dark? The drive is a while." He gestured for them to enter the car. "Albuquerque is dealing with the case, the reason I caught it. The other cities are busy dealing with 'other' problems. The drive is going to be an hour on empty desert road. No signs to play bingo. Hope you brought some games." Jared rolled down the window, flipped on the siren, and accelerated out of the parking lot.

Brennan was stuck in the back and disliked being ostracized from conversations. As a result, she leaned forward, popping her head between the two brothers.

"So Jared, are you the older brother or the younger?"

"I am proud to say I am the older brother."

"Which would make Booth the jealous younger child."

"I was not!"

"Are you kidding me Seeley? Every time I had a new toy, you wanted one!"

"Mom would always buy you the cool stuff!"

"Now, now boys. It is only human nature to compete and feel the need to be equal." She smiled, but no one noticed. "So Jared, what exactly do you do?"

"I'm a detective in the Albuquerque. I usually lead Major Case, though after my last case, I uh got bumped down."

"For?" asked Booth curiously.

"I 'assaulted' a perp. Well the mayor's son on a drug bust."

"Smooth," said Booth.

"Yeah," mumbled Jared as he turned on the radio.

As promised they met some signs of human life within an hour. In fact, it was crime scene tape around makeshift wooden sticks. Jared led the way to the scene. Dozens of photographers and police officers milled around. They headed for a central area, which was already gridded.

"I had our crime scene unit set up a grid, but they were waiting for anthropological expertise before commencing."

"Okay." She placed the case she was holding on the ground and removed an mp3 player and pair of gloves. She set the player to record and knelt down beside the body.

"Today is the twenty ninth of July in the year 2006…" she went through the full introductions. "The remains are small, possibly of an adolescent. There are no signs of trauma visible. The only outstanding thing is the irregular shape of the skull. The front of the skull is flat, the nasal bone included. The orbits are misshapen, elongated and deeper. The parietal is symmetrically flared, causing the skull to be wider than normal and the occipital is flat."

"Boy that was a mouthful," muttered Jared to Booth.

"You should see her, knows every inch of the body," marveled Booth.

"Yours?" asked Jared, a hint of malevolence in his voice. Booth cleared his throat and looked at Jared.

"Excuse me?" Jared opened his mouth to say something, but Brennan came over.

"I'll need to examine the remains thoroughly in a lab and set a cast to send to Angela."

"Okay Bones."

"We can do that," said Jared. "It's getting late, and we have to get to town. I'll have the remains transported to town and you can examine them tomorrow."

"Well I wanted to cast the skull and get that sent out."

"Well Bones, there is always tomorrow," added Booth.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Brennan knew there was no argument and packed up her things. Jared barked a last few orders and they returned to the car while everyone else remained at the scene. Jared started the car and ran a hand through his hair, the same way his brother would. He loosened his tie and turned on the air conditioner.

"So bro, know any nice hotels we can stay in?"

"Well Lindsay was looking forward to seeing you, and suggested that you stay at our house."

"Lindsay, the six month pregnant high school teacher with a four year old son, wants to add two people to an already hectic home?"

"Okay, it was my idea. I told her you were coming in with a colleague. She was iffy on the idea. But the guesthouse just rots. Don't worry, you'll be saving the FBI some money."


	3. Of Sleep and Weird Conversations

**Any mistakes are mine because I like errors, makes people comment. Just kidding!**

**Chapter 3**

A few hours later the sun was just falling below the horizon as Jared pulled the Jeep into the driveway of a large, two floor white home.

"We're here," announced Jared unnecessarily. He assisted in grabbing the luggage from the back and carrying it up the path. He pulled out his key and pushed the door open, leading to a large room. A couch and TV took up a good portion, but a child's play area dominated the back half. A young child came across the carpet, two Hot Wheels cars in his hand.

"Vroom, vroom," he said. He then realized his father stood in the doorway and ran over to him, jumping into his arms. "Daddy, daddy! Mommy got me new cars." The little boy, Jeffery Booth was four, with brown hair and nice green eyes. He wore shorts and a dinosaur t-shirt.

"Hey sport," said Jared, giving Jeff a kiss. "Look who I have. Uncle Seeley." Booth came up and took Jeff.

"Wow, I haven't seen you since you were little." Brennan smiled at the way Booth handled the child as if he was his own.

"Uncle Seeley, who is that?" he asked pointing at Brennan. "Is she my new aunt?"

"No, she's my friend from work. Dr. Brennan." Jeff slid down to the floor. Brennan knelt down to his height.

"But you can call me Tempe," she said.

"Are you a doctor that fixes people?"

"No, I work with bones to help identify people from long ago."

"WILL SOMEONE SHUT THAT DOOR? YOU ARE LETTING IN THE BUGS!" shouted someone for the kitchen area.

"That would be Lindsay," said Jared. A woman of average height walked out of the kitchen. She had a bump at her stomach showing the fact she was pregnant and wore a backwards cap on her head.

"Oh, Seeley, long time no see, how are you?" she asked as she gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. She backed off and looked at Brennan. "Seeley, who is this?"

"This is my friend and partner from work, Temperance Brennan."

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking her hands. "I've set up the guesthouse anticipating the fact that Jared here would go ahead and invite you. Miss Brennan—"

"Tempe."

"Tempe, the guesthouse is yours for as long as you are here. As for you Seeley, I guess you can stay in here, I can set up the couch, it's quite comfortable."

"It is, I should know," added Jared. Lindsay looked at him and backhanded Jared. He stood and rubbed his head. "Well dinner is ready. Everyone wash up."

After a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, Brennan headed back to the guesthouse. It was a cozy little place behind the house with a spacious bedroom and a bathroom. She set up her clothes on the dresser in the corner and then left the bag beside her bed. She lay there trying to sleep, but it didn't come. The light bounced off of something in the bag and it caught her eye. She reached into her bag and pulled it out. It was a little pig, Jasper to be more exact, and every time she saw it reminded her of Booth. Somewhere deep down it made her feel wanted, that there was someone that cared for her. She placed the pig on the nightstand and tried to sleep again.

The next morning, Booth was up early, not yet accustomed to the time difference. He showered, shaved and changed into a light colored t-shirt and beige cargo pants. He headed back to the living room to find Jared awake also, fixing a tie around his neck.

"Hey, bro," he said as they went into the kitchen. "Hungry? We have a wide selection of sugary cereal."

"Sure," he said browsing the selection. "Oh, Lucky Charms. Awesome." He grabbed the box and made himself a bowl. Jared opted for some Cookie Crisp. They sat at the table chomping away.

"So Seeley, tell me. What's up between you and Dr. Brennan?"

"Nothing, we are just coworkers, friends. Nothing more."

"Yeah, and I have a nine to five day job and a friggin' mansion. I see the way you two act when you are around each."

"Expound, I need to here this."

"Okay, yesterday when she was going over those remains, you stood there transfixed, like you were hypnotized by her words."

"Well did you hear her?" asked Booth defensively. "She can look at a skeleton, remains that seem to be nothing, and give you something! I find it absolutely amazing!"

"Uh huh. And her, whoa nelly."

"What do you mean?"

"You she her? Boy would I like to hit—"

"Hey, don't you talk about her like that!" shouted Booth angrily.

"See my point! You defended her as if you were dating."

"Oh you, you as—" Jeff came barreling down the stairs and Booth caught his words. "You really know how to play someone."

"Yeah, if I inherited one good thing from Mom, the way that woman talks!" Jared picked up Jeff and kissed his forehead.

"Yeah you were good at that. Remember that time we were playing hockey and I was tired of playing goalie so I threw the ball and broke Old Lady Martha's window."

"How could I forget that? I talked her out of making you spend your whole life savings to fix it and a belt from Dad."

"And then you turned around and made me do your homework for a month."

"Which I recall failing sometimes…" Jeff jumped out of Jared's arms and headed for his toys.

"Hey, geometry was my weakness."

"Will you two stop reminiscing," said Lindsay as she too entered the kitchen. "You're setting a bad example for Jeff."

"Sorry honey," said Jared in a falsely sweet voice. He grabbed her from behind.

"I'm going to go wake up Bones," declared Booth as he headed for the guesthouse.

"Who is Bones?" asked Lindsay feeling lost.

"Seeley's pet name for his girlfriend."

"I thought they were just partners."

"They think they are, but there is more. A helluva lot more."

Brennan was already up and dressed though; had been since six thirty. Instead of heading inside, she was talking to Russ who had called.

"So you are really getting married?" asked Brennan happy for her brother.

"Yes, I proposed last night. I know you haven't met her, but I want you to meet her."

"Well I'm in Albuquerque working on a case right now…"

"That's okay. We have time. I have a few weeks of parole left so it's not like I can go anywhere. But I want you to come to the wedding."

"Of course Russ."

"And bring your friends, from the lab."

"I'll talk to them."

"And Agent Booth. I know how much he means to you."

"He's just my friend."

"Okay Tempe. So let me know when you get back and we can talk and meet up."

"Okay Russ." She paused for a moment. "I love you."

"I love you too. Be careful." He hung up the phone. She put the cell phone on the bed and then leaned back for a moment to think. She was happy that Russ was getting married. But now she had to go to the wedding, the first when since she was the flower girl at the wedding of one of her mom's friends.

A light knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. She knew it could be only one person.

"Come in Booth." He stepped inside and closed the door lightly.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"No one else would bother me, so why are you up so early?"

"I could be asking you the same question now couldn't I?"

"Yes, but I asked first."

"I had trouble sleeping. I usually don't sleep with air conditioning, it annoys me." He sat at the edge of her bed and laid back. His shirt bunched up, revealing the waistband of a pair of checkered boxers. Brennan couldn't help but to take a small peek before returning to reality.

"Well I was talking to Russ."

Booth rolled onto his side and faced Brennan. "What's new with him?"

"He's getting married."

"Well that's good." Booth opened his mouth to say more, but a shout from Jared stopped that.

"Come on you two, we have to go!" Brennan grabbed her stuff and Booth followed her to the car.


End file.
